Hot Topics:

Longmont company finds global niche catering to ham radio enthusiasts

RF Concepts' Alpha amplifiers are considered top of the line

By Tony KindelspireLongmont Times-Call

Posted:
01/19/2013 09:00:00 PM MST

Degrees in physics and math and a master's in aerospace engineering would present plenty of career options for a person, but Molly Hardman said she has found contentment in blending her favorite hobby with her work. Hardman is the vice president of sales and support for Longmont's RF Concepts, which makes and services Alpha amplifiers for amateur, or ham, radio enthusiasts.

"I was in grad school and was in love with a guy who was going to be spending a year in the Antarctic," Hardman recalled, explaining what led her to get her first ham license in her native South Africa in 1977.

That man, Gordon Hardman, later became her husband, and he also works at RF Concepts as vice president of engineering. The two came to the United States in 1981 and moved to Colorado in 1983.

RF Concepts repairs and rebuilds ham radio amplifiers of all types, but the vast majority of the company's revenues come from the manufacture and sale of Alpha amplifiers, known in ham radio circles as the top of the line.

"Alpha amplifiers have been continuously manufactured in the U.S.

RF Concepts' Brad Focken services an Alpha 9500 amplifier last week that was sent in by a Japanese customer. (Lewis Geyer/Times-Call)
(
LEWIS GEYER
)

since the early '70s, and they have a worldwide reputation," Molly Hardman said.

A local ham enthusiast, Sebastian Wessels, agrees; he has an Alpha 9500 in his "ham shack" at his Longmont house. In fact, one of the "hams" -- as they call themselves -- that Wessels has communicated with in Switzerland sent him a post card -- or QSL card, as they're called in ham circles -- showing him and his ham equipment and there, in the picture, is an Alpha 9500.

"Anybody can build an amplifier, but Alpha just happens to be the Cadillac of amplifiers," Wessels said.

In the late 1990s, the company that made Alpha amplifiers also made medical devices, and the amp part of the company split off and became Alpha Power, which relocated to Mead.

An Alpha 9500 amplifier sits on the service bench at Longmont's RF Concepts. The ham radio amps, which have a global reputation for quality, are made in Longmont. (Lewis Geyer/Times-Call)
(
LEWIS GEYER
)

Seeing an opportunity, Hardman and some co-workers at a Boulder space-related hardware company bought the rights to make Alpha amplifiers, and in 2004, when the space hardware company shut down, they went full time into the amplifier business. Hardman was 90 percent owner of the company from 2004 to 2009.

During those years, she worked hard to keep up the company's reputation and its relationship with customers, she said, but the economy tanking in late 2008 forced her to look for a buyer.

"I sold it because I couldn't find money to buy parts to build amplifiers, even though I had orders," Hardman said.

The buyer she found was a wealthy Chicago businessman, Michael Seedman, a ham and an Alpha customer himself.

Alpha amplifiers combine the latest new technology with very old technology, such as vacuum tube. Tube sockets, above, are shown during the assembly process. (Lewis Geyer/Times-Call)
(
LEWIS GEYER
)

He renamed the company RF Concepts, and Hardman said she got to go back to doing the fun parts of her job without having to deal with the headaches of being the owner.

Since the company is privately held, she declined to give out sales numbers, but she did say the company had more than $1 million in revenue in 2008, the last year she owned it.

"We've grown every year since Michael's had it," Hardman said.

She said there are about 15,000 Alpha amplifiers in use worldwide. RF Concepts repairs all types of ham radio amps and accepts trade-ins, but the majority of its revenue is derived from selling its three models of new Alpha amplifiers, the top of the line of which -- the 9500 -- sells for about $8,000.

RF Concepts ended up in Longmont shortly after Seedman bought it because it formed a partnership with contract manufacturer Q.S.C. Systems Inc. The two companies now are located together in a building on South Sunset Street.

Q.S.C. does much of the preliminary work on the amps -- circuit board and power cord assembly, for example -- based on RF Concepts' specs and then the units are wheeled across the hall, where RF Concepts' employees test them and do final assembly. The 12-member RF Concepts team -- most, if not all, of whom are hams -- also does its R&D and customer service at that location.

Though high-tech features such microchips are now part of Alpha amplifiers, vacuum tubes are at the heart of the units, just as they were when the company was formed. Today, though, the tubes are made of ceramic, not glass.

"The new and the old technology really blend very well together," Hardman said.

And after all these years and ownership changes, it appears the reputation of the company remains intact. During a recent tour, Hardman showed some visitors a new $3,000 antennae tuner it is producing. The product hasn't hit the market, yet; as of midweek last week, the second, third and fourth units to come off the production line were still sitting on a bench, half-assembled.

"No (they're not out yet), but we have almost 300 orders for them," Hardman said.

MacIntyre feels Colorado is capable of making run at bowl gameCU BUFFS FALL CAMPWhen: 29 practices beginning Wednesday morning 8:30-11 a.m. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday practices are open to the media and public next week. Full Story

MacIntyre feels Colorado is capable of making run at bowl gameCU BUFFS FALL CAMPWhen: 29 practices beginning Wednesday morning 8:30-11 a.m. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday practices are open to the media and public next week. Full Story

It didn't take long for Denver music observers to notice Plume Varia. Husband and wife Shon and Cherie Cobbs formed the band only two years ago, but after about a year they started finding themselves on best-of lists and playing the scene's top venues. Full Story